DOING WHATEVER IT TAKES

Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra performances

As concertmaster, William Preucil is often called upon to do things for the mutual benefit of the conductor and his colleagues. The most extreme case happened in a concert with the Cleveland Orchestra’s former music director Christoph von Dohnányi.

“It was the last concert of the season, and it was at 3 o’clock,” Preucil said. “And I knew people were leaving for vacation right after the concert. Some of them had 8 o’clock planes. So nobody wanted any delays.”

But as the concert progressed, Preucil noticed a hornet circling the conductor.

“Then I watched the hornet land on the conductor’s shoulder. He was totally unaware. And I saw it climbing up his shoulder toward his neck.

“I was thinking, ‘He’s going to get stung; we’re going to have to take him backstage and treat him, and people are going to miss their planes because the concert is going to get delayed.’ ”

So Preucil rolled up the first violin part of Sibelius’ Symphony No. 5, stood up, and took aim.

“I gave him a good whack, right there in the middle of the concert,” Preucil said.

“He turned around and looked at me like I had just shot him. Then he saw the thing buzzing around and he understood. Meanwhile, the orchestra is going on, playing music from ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ the whole time.”

The dazed hornet managed to make its way back to the trombone section, where the bass trombonist finished the job.

“Thankfully, the conductor wasn’t stung,” Preucil said.

And thankfully, the concert ended on time.

JAMES CHUTE • U-T

All concerts are conducted by David Atherton and begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Balboa Theatre